Brother David
Brother David is the main antagonist in the 5th season episode "Into the Fire" of the 1995-2003 CBS supernatural drama TV series Touched by an Angel. He is an enigmatic cult leader who leads his American religious Christian organization comprised of men, women, children known as the "Golden Path" (also acronymized as "GP") who wore all dark-blue colored clothes (long sleeved shirts and dark blue jeans) as him and followed his "teachings" including his sort of -warped doomsday prophecy called the "Four Nines" (9th day of the 9th month of the 99th year as in "9999"), an unproven world-wide extinction level event dealing with mass computer data-dumping would come upon the planet Earth on September 9th on the year before the beginning of the 21st century A.D. David was portrayed by , famous radio talk show host, actor, and best known host of the long-running daytime talk show as well as his recurring benevolent role of Lieutenant Curtis Rivers on . He tempted a troubled woman named Melina Richardson into joining the Gold Path Institute, name of the Golden Path's headquarters as well as the said cult's secondary alias. This situation prompts the angels (specifically Monica and Andrew) to intervene as well as prevent Melina's fate of becoming a victim to the cult. A postman drives by the Golden Path campground for a certified letter to have its signature from whoever receives it. David accepts this fact and secretly writes "John Doe" as his signature. He offers to present the route to the postman afterwards. Andrew temporarily disguises himself as an employee for the Department of Children's Service, but David totally rejects him about communicating with the cult's residential children. Andrew sternly warns him about the advice for either to be in cooperation with himself or eventually respond to the authorities, but David rationally replies that he only responds to God. Brother David goes as far as trying to murder all members of the Golden Path Institute after they begin to doubt his ways when Monica reveals herself to be an angel. David's former cult group successfully evacuates with the help of Monica miraculously unchaining the barricaded doors after David intentionally sets the entire chapel on fire. Monica makes an attempt to persuade Brother David to exit the blazing cult sanctuary, but he continues to believe in his own claims of holiness instead of finally admitting about his transgressions against God. Andrew consigns David's soul to Hell as the result. Monica and Andrew along with first responders meet the former cult followers on the next morning. Paramedics pass by with a gurney holding David's shrouded corpse placing it into an ambulance. The angels encourage the outcast to join Christianity and entirely abandon their self-destruct ways by accurately identifying themselves (Brother Jacob's actual name is William Kitchell while Rebecca reveals herself and their daughter to be Samantha and Carolyn). The Golden Path Institute ceased its existence because of David's death. Gallery The Golden Path Institute.jpg|The Golden Path Institute The Golden Path Cult.jpg|The Golden Path Trivia *Like many villains in the Touched by An Angel television series, Brother David is symbolic of a social / theological transgression - in this case, the dangers of cults and how cult leaders can take advantage of vulnerable people and make them do extremely dubious things or surrender their free-will (as well as in the most extreme circumstances led them into criminal harm). *Unlike Professor Jeffrey Radisson in Pure Flix's 2014 film "God's Not Dead", Brother David's final fate is being trapped in eternal damnation due to his refusal of accepting true Christian redemption at the last minute. One reason is he was claiming to be God when his followers were in sight. Professor Radisson thankfully did not do such a thing to his college students whatsoever because he was an atheist at first. Radisson had two pastors ultimately converting him to Christianity after a car unwittingly hit him on his way to the Newsboys concert. Brother David was a false Christian martyr because intentionally omitted the name "Jesus" and our Savior's title "Christ" while Radisson went to Heaven because he accepted Christ Jesus as his Redeemer. *Like Judge Claude Frollo in Disney's 1996 animated musical film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", Brother David was known for being blasphemous prior to his death. Judge Frollo fell into molten lava below the cathedral when he tried to murder Quasimodo while David remained in his self-worship cult building which he intentionally set on fire when his followers were intending to evacuate it for their physical and spiritual safety. The angels Tess and Monica successfully escorted them out of the blazing structure afterwards. Frollo murdered Quasimodo's mother twenty years earlier, but Brother David did not actually take any lives of his cult followers. He fatally cremated himself in his own sanctuary after Monica spared all of his cult victims. Category:Enigmatic Category:Cult Leaders Category:God Wannabe Category:Control Freaks Category:Charismatic Category:Male Category:Theology Villains Category:Fantasy Villains Category:TV Show Villains Category:Live Action Villains Category:Homicidal Category:Suicidal Category:Delusional Category:Corrupting Influence Category:Deceased Category:Damned Souls Category:Liars